


Nothing Other Than A Man

by Aaron_The_8th_Demon



Series: A Combination Of Skill And Luck [12]
Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: Anxiety, Canon Trans Character, M/M, Sexual Content, Something which is not commonly done but I've seen it a few times, The Author Regrets Everything, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:13:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25946410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaron_The_8th_Demon/pseuds/Aaron_The_8th_Demon
Summary: The first time anything happens between them, it’s spontaneous and unexpected, and it’s during work hours in his damn office of all places and times. But Harry has him pressed against the door, kissing him, and he’s so responsive. It kinda shocks them both that this is even taking place, Dale feels a little nervous in his movements… Harry finds that kind of adorable, though. But then the phone rings, and Lucy’s voice comes over the intercom, and everything grinds to a screeching halt. With the distraction he doesn’t have to keep fighting not to get a hard-on, because it goes away on its own. Dale doesn’t seem embarrassed or ashamed, just flabbergasted.The second time, it’s absolutely on purpose. They’re on Harry’s porch, about to grill some trout, but he figures now is a good time to pick up where they left off in his office two days ago. There’s no rush, it’s all very deliberate. And Dale is completely fine with it… until he suddenly isn’t and is yanking himself out of Harry’s arms.
Relationships: Dale Cooper/Harry Truman
Series: A Combination Of Skill And Luck [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617793
Comments: 14
Kudos: 36





	Nothing Other Than A Man

**Author's Note:**

> >_< This fic is dumb and I hate it. Enjoy.

The first time anything happens between them, it’s spontaneous and unexpected, and it’s during work hours in his damn office of all places and times. But Harry has him pressed against the door, kissing him, and he’s so responsive. It kinda shocks them both that this is even taking place, Dale feels a little nervous in his movements… Harry finds that kind of adorable, though. But then the phone rings, and Lucy’s voice comes over the intercom, and everything grinds to a screeching halt. With the distraction he doesn’t have to keep fighting not to get a hard-on, because it goes away on its own. Dale doesn’t seem embarrassed or ashamed, just flabbergasted.

The second time, it’s absolutely on purpose. They’re on Harry’s porch, about to grill some trout, but he figures now is a good time to pick up where they left off in his office two days ago. There’s no rush, it’s all very deliberate. And Dale is completely fine with it… until he suddenly isn’t and is yanking himself out of Harry’s arms.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asks, already feeling guilty for whatever it is he did.

“Nothing,” Dale says, not making eye contact. “I’m hungry.”

“…okay,” he agrees quietly. What did he do wrong? “Uh. I’ll start the grill, then.”

And Harry is so ashamed of himself that he stops trying to kiss Dale after that. He doesn’t even know what he did, but it must be bad. It’s so weird, though, because Dale still seems like he wants Harry… but Harry doesn’t dare try to keep pushing it. Clearly there’s some kind of issue. Maybe he’s too aggressive.

The third time, it’s Dale who starts it, on the couch in Harry’s living room. Harry gets nervous, he just knows he’s going to screw up again, he’s not even sure what he keeps doing wrong because Dale won’t tell him and he’s too scared to ask… but god, Dale can kiss, and already Harry starts getting carried away. He tries to reach for Dale’s belt, not to undo it but just to untuck the bottom of the flannel shirt. A hand on his wrist stops him and Harry pulls back entirely, which is hard to do when there’s another man sprawled over top of him.

He swallows. “Coop, you gotta tell me what it is I’m doing wrong.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Well… what is it? I gotta know what I did that makes you so uncomfortable so that I can stop doing it,” Harry points out.

Dale rests his face on Harry’s right shoulder and is quiet for a very long time. Eventually he peels away, and they both sit up straight on opposite ends of the couch.

“Harry… there’s something I have to show you.”

He starts unbuttoning his shirt.

* * *

_ “Coop, can I ask something?” _

_ “Alright,” he nods. _

_ Denise gives him a concerned look from across their table in the Great Northern’s dining room. “Is something going on between you and the sheriff?” _

_ “No,” Dale says regretfully. “I’m concerned about subjecting him to the horrors of my pathology, I’m not sure he’d be capable of understanding.” _

_ “He’s alright with me,” Denise points out. _

_ “I hope you can appreciate that that’s very different,” Dale argues softly. “You’re not interested in having a romantic relationship with him, after all. It’s safer for everyone if he doesn’t know.” _

_ “If you love him this much, you should say something. Now, I don’t know him as well as I know you, of course. He seems gullible sometimes, but you’ve also mentioned him being very open-minded to your investigational methods. Maybe you can use that gullibility to your advantage.” _

_ “He’s not gullible,” Dale frowns, mere milliseconds before it occurs to him that, yes, actually, Harry is quite gullible at times. “And even open-minded people have limits they can’t go over.” _

_ Denise isn’t insistent about the topic - she understands it all too well herself, the danger of admitting to a secret of this magnitude. Especially since Dale passes a lot better than she does. There’s a very large risk of accusations of deception, of being targeted with hostility and even violence. Instead she gives him a smile which is sympathetic and almost mournful. _

_ “Imagine if brain transplants were possible. We could’ve just traded.” _

_ Dale chuckles bitterly. “Yes, that would’ve been preferable.” _

* * *

Harry watches Dale’s hands shake while untucking and taking off the flannel overshirt. The sleeveless undershirt is pulled out as well, and… what exactly is Harry supposed to be looking at, here? There’s nothing out of the ordinary.

“You don’t have much chest hair,” is all he can think of.

“Give me your hands, Harry.” He complies and they’re placed in the indents under Dale’s pecs. “Can you feel that?”

Come to mention it, yeah, he can. Thin ridges of scar tissue, probably from a medical… something. “Okay. So what’s this got to do with me, though?”

Dale watches the floor.

“The scarring is due to a series of surgical procedures I underwent several years ago… originally, they were much more obvious, but there were cosmetic corrections performed to minimize the visibility. In general, I’m highly satisfied with the results… but this doesn’t change the outcome that usually takes place when I explain the reasoning behind the initial surgery. It was for the removal of excess tissue.”

“Okay,” Harry shrugs. He has no idea where this is going.

“You’ve met Denise, of course.”

“Yeah, what about her?”

Dale swallows several times and closes his eyes. “Suffice to say I am in the opposite situation from the one she’s in.”

It takes Harry an embarrassing amount of time to figure out what that actually means.

“Oh.”

“Please forgive me for not informing you sooner. It’s anxiety-provoking.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Harry agrees, still shocked. “Uh. If. If it helps. I uh. I never would’ve guessed.”

“That’s very common. It’s difficult to tell for most people.”

“But…” He tries to figure out what he’s trying to say. “Shouldn’t you like women?”

“The two things are unrelated. I’m attracted to other men.”

“Isn’t that kinda pointless, though?”

Dale glowers at him when he says that. “Is it pointless for you, too?”

“No,” Harry tries to backpedal. “I just meant…”

“I know exactly what you meant,” Dale snaps, “and I’m incredibly sick of being asked that question.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m sorry. Coop, I don’t know anything about this stuff.”

“In any case, while I appreciate that you’re not immediately hostile to me, I also don’t expect you to still be romantically or sexually inclined towards me after this. Believe me when I say you did nothing wrong. All of my prior apprehension was on the grounds of the misalignment between my inner self and my chromosomes.”

“So… what, it’s because you’re missing a couple things?”

“Essentially, yes.”

“Coop, y’know, I was with Josie before this. It’s not like I’m not familiar with both sets of parts or anything. But I guess… it probably bothers you, though, doesn’t it?”

“Sometimes.”

“Then how do you have sex?” he blurts out, then immediately adds, “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want.”

“Usually with my clothes on and making full use of the range of motion in my fingers,” Dale answers calmly and not without some humor. At least he’s starting to smile. “It’s important to be imaginative as well.”

“Huh. So when you were stopping me before, is it because this whole thing makes you uncomfortable or because you thought I’d get mad that you’re… not standard construction?”

“A mix of both.”

“I’m not mad, Coop. Mostly I’m just real surprised.”

“Yes, I’ve gathered as much. I appreciate you not being upset with me.”

“I really wish you just told me before, I thought I was doing something wrong.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong, Harry,” Dale promises.

Slowly, Harry reaches over one hand to wrap it around Dale’s wrist and pull him back across the couch in order to kiss him. Harry only ever tops anyway when he’s seeing other men, so as far as he’s concerned this changes nothing. Dale is beautiful, gorgeous even, looking like he needs to be kissed, touched, held,  _ loved. _ And Harry will do anything to get those hints of resignation and sadness out of his eyes.

The other main thing is to get Dale to relax. Harry wouldn’t dream of hurting him or making him uncomfortable, and so holds him and kisses him with as much tenderness as possible. He strokes a hand over skin - the side of Dale’s face, his shoulder and upper arm, down his flank.

It turns out to be a weird combination of things. Harry takes his pants off first so Dale won’t feel so vulnerable. A word gets brought up: atrophy. They have to use lube, it might still hurt even with that, especially at first. None of this is an unfamiliar idea to Harry. So it’s kind of like having sex with most other men in that way. But then also Dale can lie on his back, his legs are around Harry. And actually Harry likes that better, he likes Dale clinging to him.

Afterwards, when he’s shucked the condom and snuggled them up in the blankets, he worries that maybe he did the wrong thing.

“Hey, Coop?”

“Yes, Harry.”

“I didn’t… I didn’t set off your… problem, did I?”

“No, I’m fine. Your concern is touching, though. Thank you.”

“Okay. Good.” Harry kisses his forehead and then settles again.

Dale nestles closer, nuzzling Harry’s throat. “Can I ask why you’re so alright with this?”

“Coop, if I’m interested in someone, it doesn’t usually have that much to do with what junk they have,” Harry chuckles. He wants to say what he was thinking earlier, that Dale’s beautiful, but that might get misinterpreted. “You’re a handsome guy and you’re one of the best men I know.”

Dale nods into his neck. “Harry, you’re precious and the world doesn’t deserve you,” he comments.

“Uh… if you say so, Coop.”

“I do say so,” Dale insists.

They don’t say anything else and just lie there together for awhile. Eventually, they both fall asleep, and at no point has Harry ever thought of Dale as anything other than a man.

**Author's Note:**

> All my Twin Peaks fics can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=127943&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&user_id=Aaron_The_8th_Demon).


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